In my late 20s and into my 30s,
I came to notice just how deeply Samskara,
The cycle of suffering born from clinging and aversion,
Had taken root in me.
Every thought,
Failure and disappointment,
Had been repeating in my mind like a loop I couldn't shut off.
I resisted emotions,
Tried to control outcomes,
And pushed against the natural flow of experience.
The more I resisted,
The more suffering followed.
This is the very nature of Samskara.
The ego's constant need to fix,
Grasp and avoid.
At the time,
I didn't have the language for it,
But I felt the inner split,
A mind driven by fear and desire clashing with something quieter,
More truthful beneath it.
That silent part of me wasn't asking me to control more,
But to surrender that control.
True freedom,
I came to understand,
Isn't found in mastering the mind,
But in letting go of its dominance.
You don't escape Samskara by winning its game,
You step out of the game altogether.
Surrender is the only path that breaks the loop.
Realizing I wasn't my thoughts wasn't enough,
I had to release the need to follow them.
When I did,
Peace didn't just arrive,
It revealed itself as something that had always been there.
Samskara begins to dissolve when we stop fighting what is and allow presence to take its place.
To surrender is to give yourself up to the absolute,
Moving beyond the ego.
It's not to give up action or purpose,
It's resignation of the emotional and mental resistance so cycles of suffering can end.
It's to let go of negative emotions and the limiting conditions we've allowed to define us.
If explained in highly spiritual terms,
It's surrendering to one's inner spirit,
To God.
It's the decision to accept and flow with life and let inspiration and creativity guide you.
Surrender is spirituality,
The highest practice.
By naturally releasing and transforming persistent negative emotions,
We move beyond fleeting pleasures and enter a state of lasting peace and deeper fulfillment.
True fulfillment isn't found in satisfying desires or avoiding discomfort,
It lies in embracing suffering and rediscovering a state of completeness that has long been buried.
The focus is on handling our emotions and engaging in conscious breathing.
After you realize you are entangled in ego and recognize a thought,
Let the breath serve as a reminder to return to your practice or simply use it to deepen and extend the practice.
Begin by inhaling deeply,
Preferably through your nose,
Slowly and steadily while maintaining a comfortable position.
Try to clear your mind during the inhales,
Focusing on the sensations of air entering your body.
Then exhale at an easy,
Slower or similar pace,
Either through your nose or mouth,
Consciously relaxing your shoulders and abdomen.
Let go of all mental efforts,
Allowing everything to be as it is.
You can hold at the bottom or top of the breath cycle for a duration,
Or slow down completely with no struggle.
Feel the inner energy in your belly and chest area,
Then expanding in this awareness.
When in doubt,
Breathe.
Let the breath guide you to presence.
It can be observed that when you focus on the flow of your breath,
On the rising and falling of the body,
It becomes difficult to think at the same time.
This is just one reason why it's such a valuable tool in the process of presence.
Breathing,
Being at the forefront of your bodily functions in life,
Though usually automated outside the view of awareness,
Can be brought into awareness and purposefully shifted and focused upon,
Affecting your entire being right at its motor and through the nervous system.
To deepen your internal awareness,
Breathe into the space within you.
Feel the expansiveness inside you and rest in the often forgotten stillness.
Awareness thrives in this stillness and all energy flows through this internal space.
Accept the space that exists as it is,
And become a patient observer from this quiet place.
Feel what energy and space you can sense here.
It doesn't matter if you feel anything special at that moment,
Just have a clear mind and a sense of allowance,
With awareness of your inner body.
If you do feel energy,
Feel it and continue in the same manner.
Nothing fundamentally changes,
Because no change is necessary.
We're not in pursuit of great spiritual energy,
We are the space that welcomes it.
When practicing surrender,
Breathe slowly and welcome the inner senses.
Acknowledge any dark emotions that surface,
Sitting with them fully without layering on additional narratives of pain.
The key is to avoid letting any related thoughts or mental stories take control.
Your emotions are the primary place of focus in the gaps,
And it turns out they can hold focus very well.
Focus your attention on a physical sensation of the emotion,
Often felt in the stomach or chest.
Notice the way it manifests in your body.
Whenever your mind starts drifting back into mental narratives,
Gently return your focus to your breath.
Inhale slowly and exhale to release any doubt in the weight of the world.
And remember that every breath can be a conscious one if you are determined to make it so.
